Kuraray: Isoprene unit grows sales, narrows losses

Tokyo – Japanese chemicals and materials group Kuraray Co. Ltd reported first half sales up 6.4% year-on-year to Yen39,944 million (€233 million) at its Isoprene segment.

Meanwhile, a segment loss of Yen1,311 million at the Isoprene unit, represented a significant improvement on the minus Yen4,025 million recorded in the first six months of 2024.

The result reflected a “stabilisation of operations at the Thai base, which was also leveraged to contribute to sales expansion,” according to the Japanese group.

Regarding its ‘isoprene chemicals and elastomer’ sub-segment, Kuraray said “volumes increased and sales mix improved as demand remained firm, especially in Europe and the US.”

In terms of volume, stable operations at the Thai base and sales expansion leveraging this base drove an increase of Yen1.6 billion in profit.

Improvements in selling price and product mix for isoprene chemicals and elastomers also contributed to a Yen0.9 billion increase – increasing operating income for the segment as a whole by Yen2.7 billion.

Reviewing global markets, Kuraray said the “overall world economy decelerated due to US tariff policies, further increasing uncertainty going forward.”

In Japan, it noted, stagnant overseas demand has diminished prospects for economic recovery, while US demand projections indicate that growth will slow due to the tariff policies.

In Europe, the overall economy remained on a gradual but uncertain expansion track, while growth in the Chinese economy remained low partly due to a downturn in the property market.